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Asia remains the world\u2019s fastest-growing region\u2014and its momentum shows little sign of slowing. According to 2025 McKinsey estimates, the region is set to contribute as much as 40% of global growth by 2040.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat growth trajectory is going to continue,\u201d Kim-See Lim, the chief investment officer of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), tells Fortune<\/em> at the sidelines of the Forum Ekonomi Malaysia. \u201cAsia has a young population base that is very tech-savvy and, with that, productivity and knowledge transfer will really go up.\u201d<\/p>\n A Malaysian native, Lim is optimistic about her home country\u2019s economic prospects. Malaysia\u2019s unemployment rate stands at just 2.9%, while the ringgit recently touched a five-year high.<\/p>\n Last October, the AIIB inked cooperation agreements with four Malaysian banks\u2014Maybank, CIMB, AmBank and BPMB\u2014to mobilize $6 billion to finance green infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia. Lim calls that \u201cthe first step towards supporting economic growth in Malaysia and the surrounding region.\u201d<\/p>\n Energy makes up a sizable part of ASEAN economies, with firms such as Thailand\u2019s PTT, Indonesia\u2019s Pertamina, and Indonesia\u2019s Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) sitting in the top ten of Fortune<\/em>\u2019s Southeast Asia 500 ranking.\u00a0<\/p>\n The AIIB was established in 2015, in a China-led effort to foster sustainable economic development and improve infrastructure connectivity in Asia. (Chinese president Xi Jinping proposed the initiative in 2013, during a state visit to Indonesia.)\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn 1980, China didn\u2019t have any expressways, no electrified railways, no modern airports, nothing in terms of so-called modern infrastructure,\u201d Jin Liqun, AIIB\u2019s founding president, told Fortune<\/em> in an interview last year. \u201cYet by 1995, China\u2019s economy started to take off. From 1995, other sectors\u2014manufacturing, processing\u2014mushroomed because of basic infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n AIIB bank boasts 111 countries as members, including other large economies like India, France, Germany and the U.K. (Both the U.S. and Japan declined to join)<\/p>\n Unlike other multilateral development banks such as the World Bank, the AIIB\u2019s work is more narrowly focused on infrastructure. The AIIB doesn\u2019t \u201cprescribe\u201d what its members should do, Lim says. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re really here for, to listen to countries\u2019 needs and see how we can support them.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, despite its positioning as an alternative to existing MDBs, the AIIB works closely with its peers in development finance. Since AIIB\u2019s founding, Lim says they\u2019ve undertaken over 130 projects\u2014and mobilized over $32 billion of co-financing\u2014with other peer MDBs.<\/p>\n The AIIB is investing in infrastructure throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in the areas of transit and mobility. The bank is funding the construction of bridges and toll roads, as well as upgrading metro infrastructure in the Philippines, where cities like Manila suffer from heavy traffic congestion. The AIIB is also providing over $400 million in funding to expand Thailand\u2019s U-Tapao International Airport, which serves neighboring tourist hubs like Bangkok and Pattaya.<\/p>\n On Feb. 10, Singaporean infrastructure firm Keppel announced that it received a total of $125 million in AIIB commitments for a private credit fund targeting sustainable infrastructure projects throughout Asia-Pacific. The AIIB-Keppel partnership eventually hopes to mobilize $1.5 billion in funds towards projects developed by Keppel.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cASEAN is the fifth largest economy in the world,\u201d Lim said to Fortune<\/em> last week. \u201cThere is strength in those numbers. Whether it\u2019s for trade, power, or just the sharing of knowledge, there is strength in that grouping.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Asias #young #techsavvy #population #power #regions #growth #AIIB #CIO #KimSee #Lim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Asia remains the world\u2019s faste… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[12468,12466,5727,3068,567,12469,12470,1151,9197,1124,6149,12467,2488],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Developed by Asia, for Asia<\/strong><\/h2>\n